Alpacas spark joy at rural memory café

It was to reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing.

A rural church in Devon recently had some unusual visitors in the form of a trio of Alpacas.

Xander, Juniper and Thunderball were the guests of honour at the monthly memory cafe at St Andrew’s Church Hall in Ashburton.

A pen was put up for the animals in the hall garden so people attending the cafe could meet them and interact with them.

The Alpacas come from Lakemoor Alpacas on Dartmoor.

The visit was organised by Heather Manktelow from Moorland Community Caring, a small local charity which runs Ashburton Memory Cafe, and supports the communities of Ashburton, Bovey Tracey and Buckfastleigh by working to reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing.

Heather said “If people find it difficult to get ‘out and about’ to places, I like to bring places and experiences to them at the memory cafe.  I like to think that we help people to ‘live well with dementia’.

“I know how our members love animals and the therapy interacting with animals can bring.

“I love alpacas myself and I felt that the Memory Cafe members would enjoy a visit from alpacas too… and I was right. Something ‘magical’ happens when animals are around.

“Watching people talking to the alpacas, and the expressions and big smiles on their faces was just priceless. We had older adults, their children and grandchildren all enjoying the experience."

The Rt. Rev’d Mark Rylands, Priest-in-Charge of St Andrew’s church said “We are fortunate to have a lovely church hall and garden which is run by a fantastic team of volunteers.

“We try to live out our Christian faith by serving our community and we are delighted to be able to provide a suitable venue for the memory cafe and support the vital work of Moorland Community Caring.

“Animals bring great joy, and the Alpacas had a big impact. We’ll have to invite them back for our animal service in the autumn!”

Heather said the alpacas seemed to enjoy their outing: “The alpacas were very well behaved and were very content in the enclosure that their owners set up for them on the lawn.

“They enjoyed nibbling on the lush grass, and when they had to leave, there was a noticeable difference in the height of the grass compared to the rest of the lawn.

“We were very lucky with the weather and we were able to meet them outdoors… but they would have come indoors to meet us otherwise!”